COMMENTARY : Dealing Great One Is Not a Great Idea

He brought four Stanley Cups to Edmonton, then managed to bring respectability to a forlorn franchise, coming within three games of delivering a Stanley Cup to Los Angeles. And, in his spare time, he helped spin off teams in San Jose and Anaheim.

After all that, could the game’s greatest player, Wayne Gretzky, really be facing the prospect of being traded for the second time in his career?

It is looking more and more as though Gretzky will be playing elsewhere soon after his 35th birthday on Jan. 26, if not before. A meeting scheduled for Tuesday between Gretzky’s agent, Michael Barnett, and King owners will largely determine whether he remains in Los Angeles or joins another team.

Gretzky has been unusually subdued recently and those close to him say he seems almost resigned to being traded again. The issue was pushed to the forefront in recent days in Toronto and picked up momentum when Jack Quinn, president of the St. Louis Blues, openly enthused about the possibilities of a Gretzky-Brett Hull combination. A Blues’ source told ESPN2 on Thursday that the organization could spend the necessary money to sign Gretzky.

Gretzky’s King teammates are taking the St. Louis talk seriously, wondering who would be sent to Los Angeles. A first-round draft choice? Chris Pronger? Both?

Gretzky’s future in Los Angeles hinges on whether the new owners, Philip F. Anschutz and Edward P. Roski Jr., are willing to make the moves necessary to contend for a Stanley Cup in Gretzky’s hockey lifetime. If that doesn’t happen, expect to see him wearing another uniform before the trading deadline in March.

Last summer, Gretzky was given the same assurances he is seeking now and stayed put.

But the Kings have made only two small deals, acquiring defensemen Steven Finn and John Slaney. They have been on the sideline as Esa Tikkanen headed first to New Jersey and then to Vancouver, and prominent holdout Joe Nieuwendyk was traded to Dallas.

And with the Kings playing four lines, Gretzky is getting reduced ice time. Four lines might have worked well for the Stanley Cup-winning New Jersey Devils but they haven’t been the answer for the talent-thin Kings. Gretzky has been on a line with John Druce, a four-goal scorer. And he skates down the ice on a two-on-one with minor leaguer Dan Bylsma, watching Bylsma swing mightily at the puck and fall down.

Gretzky was saying in Toronto that the Kings, who have been hovering around the .500 mark, could easily become contenders by making a couple of deals as teams look to unload high-priced players before the trading deadline.

That rationale may seem questionable but there are only two strong teams in the Western Conference, Detroit and Colorado, and the Kings have matched up well against the Avalanche, winning once and tying once.

Team management has been paralyzed--whether by indecision or design is difficult to tell. When defenseman Rob Blake had season-ending knee surgery on Nov. 14, General Manager Sam McMaster spoke about needing to get an impact defenseman to replace Blake, then reversed his field within hours, talking up Philippe Boucher, who has scored four goals, and minor leaguer Jan Vopat.

Meanwhile, Coach Larry Robinson said he and McMaster have not met with the owners to discuss the organization’s plan, whether it is to win now or go with a youth movement.

The first domino is Gretzky. His leaving would trigger a radical change in direction, leading to the departure of other older, high-priced veterans. Gretzky would prefer to stay in Los Angeles but has continually said he wants to contend for another Stanley Cup.

The situation is somewhat reminiscent of his pondering retirement after the Kings had lost to Montreal in the Stanley Cup finals in 1993. It is a bit different now, though, because Gretzky is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and the Kings cannot afford to let an asset of his stature slip away and get nothing in return.

Then the focus turns to what the Kings could get for Gretzky and it becomes obvious a trade shouldn’t be an issue. Even Glen Sather of the Oilers, considered one of the best general managers in the business, could not turn his franchise around with the Gretzky trade. The two players the Oilers got--Jimmy Carson and Martin Gelinas--are long gone and the three draft picks received from the Kings made no impact.

A rebuilding movement may sound good, but the Oilers have little to show for theirs. And in San Jose, the reliance on youngsters has backfired.

It’s not as though the Kings have a dazzling array of up-and-coming talent. The quality players are already with the team, not in the minors with Phoenix, which is in last place in its division in the International Hockey League.

Rookie defenseman Aki Berg is progressing nicely and right wing Vitali Yachmenev continues to lead the league in rookie scoring, but give some credit to Gretzky, who has assisted on all but one of Yachmenev’s 14 goals.

The reality in Los Angeles is that sports franchises need stars to succeed at the gate. One ill-conceived rationale for trading Gretzky is that attendance is already down--the Kings are averaging just more than 13,800--and how bad can it get? Check those empty seats at Edmonton Oiler and New York Islander games.

Off the ice, the Kings need Gretzky for credibility with the corporate community, especially in trying to launch an ambitious arena project. And, on the ice, Gretzky is proving he is far from finished. He is on a 120-point pace and ranks among the league’s top four scorers. It would be interesting to see how he would fare with some solid support.

If these are to be Gretzky’s final King days, simply consider how the Kings might look without him.

Think of the Hartford Whalers.

Now try it again--minus Brendan Shanahan.

* NEW DECK: After Anaheim’s 7-2 loss to Boston, Duck Coach Ron Wilson said that he’ll take at least three players out of the lineup tonight. C10

* START HIM UP: The Mighty Ducks’ Paul Kariya will start in the NHL All-Star game after being named to replace the injured Pavel Bure. C10

* DEVILISH FEELING: Chris Terreri got the best of his old teammates, making 31 saves to lead San Jose to a 2-1 victory over New Jersey. C10